The first event of the New Year was a re-training workshop held for volunteers who had previously undergone training to survey waterbodies for rural diffuse pollution, but wanted to brush up on their skills before walking the rivers.

Even though it was a very cold and wet day, the rain held off long enough (although the hail didn’t) for us to walk a short section of the Birkin Brook at Bowdon, and practise identifying invasive species (which look very different in winter), areas of erosion, pipes, land drains and sewage outlets along the way.

The volunteers had an enjoyable morning and now feel confident enough to head out and survey Mobberley, Birkin, Sugar, Marthall and Pedley Brooks for diffuse water pollution and invasive species.

It is hoped that we will have the results of the surveys collated by the end of March, and we can then use this information to create educational resources and pinpoint areas where there are major pollution issues. In these areas we would like to work with landowners to try to solve these issues to protect native species and improve the health of our rivers for us and for wildlife.